The Polygamist follows the fortunes of Omar Al Ghamdi, Saudi-born but educated in the West; a man who is the product of two irreconcilable cultures.

After two decades he has come to experience philandering as increasingly superficial; but vehemently opposed to monogamous fidelity, turns to polygamy as the solution to his high turnover existence. His hope is that taking several wives will provide him with a more honest and satisfying alternative, allowing him to engage in deeper relationships whilst still giving a long enough leash to his sexuality.

Having pursued his goal without compromise by entering into serial arranged marriages, he lives with his household on a remote house on Colva Beach in Goa. Does the reality live up to the dream? And, what is it like for the women? How can one man possibly satisfy multiple female partners?

The key to enjoying this book is going into it with the right mindset. This is no feminist text - it is about a man unabashedly pandering to his sexual fantasies and the consequences that inevitably arise. It is about male desire and sexuality during the seventies in the middle east. When you approach it with this context, it's easier to have an open mind and enjoy the journey this story takes you on.

This book really challenged my way of thinking and showed me a perspective that isn't visited much in literature. Omar's story is probably far from the reality of a middle eastern polygamous marriage, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

When thinking about the main character of this novel, I think it's fair to say that many people would consider him selfish and without morals - and he can be - but, I was often pleasantly surprised with how caring and genuine Omar was with his wives and friends. While he undergoes a significant amount of growth throughout the novel, Irvine writes it in a way that is believable. As with any character, it was sometimes frustrating, but overall, I enjoyed spending time with Omar as he navigated life, sexuality, and religion.

It may go without saying, but this book has a good deal (ok, a lot) of sexual content, so if that makes you uncomfortable, this won't be the book for you. The sheer volume can seem gratuitous at times, but I think the scenes are a crucial part of both Omar's growth and his relationship with his wives.

Rating: 4.5/5

*Thank you to Troubador Publishing and netGalley for sending me an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.*

Sometimes it’s hard being a book nerd. The people in your life may not always understand when you keep buying books even though you have a bookcase full of ones that are unread or when you have a spreadsheet, journal, and blog for the books you’ve read. Or what about when you would prefer to spend time with a stack of bound up paper over them and then you become “best friends” with someone over the shared love of a book?

Don’t worry – you aren’t alone. Once you really start getting involved in the bookish community, you discover there are tons of bookish corners of the internet and social media: BookTube, Bookstagram, Book Twitter, book blogs, Goodreads, etc. It’s hard not to fall hard and fast for these communities that validate your love of reading. They are places where suddenly your “quirky” tendencies are not only understood but celebrated.

For those of you who haven’t stumbled upon these corners, I recommend going to Instagram or YouTube and searching bookish tags (i.e. books, bookstagram, bookblogger, amreading). From there, you can poke around other accounts and start searching specific genres of your liking.

I just celebrated my one-year anniversary on bookstagram a couple months ago, and have spent that time reflecting on how participating in the community has changed my reading life.

The thing that I love most is that the online book community is a place of unapologetic passion. Whether you are over the moon about a particular novel, author, or genre, there is someone out there who feels the same way. When you are able to share that mutual passion over a book (or author or genre), it opens up a whole other dimension of friendship. Not only does it allow a special connection, but it allows you to ask questions and discuss parts of the book that you may not have otherwise considered.

Further, there’s something deeply personal about the books we read. Sure, some are just for fun, but others go right to the heart of what is most meaningful to us (think Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig or Hungerby Roxane Gay). When sharing our relationships with these books on a public platform, we are allowing ourselves to be open and vulnerable. Some of my closest friendships have come from my time on bookstagram for that exact reason. Public love of novels about personal issues opens up a dialogue that might not typically come up with new friends.

Apart from the community aspect, being a part of bookstagram has been a phenomenal way to track the books I’ve read. Of course, I use Goodreads (and also have a personal spreadsheet and physical journal), but there’s something special about being able to look back at a photo. It transports you back to the circumstances in which you read the book: where were you? who were you with? what season was it? what snacks did you munch on? what candle did you burn? All these little details come together to paint a picture of your experience with that book.

But there’s another side to bookstagram. The side that – whether intentionally or not – encourages an obsession with purchasing and “hauling” books and finding the most beautiful editions available. Subconsciously, then very consciously, I became picky about whether a book had a fold in the cover or not, whether I had the best edition of a book, whether there was writing on the pages. It never occurred to me to have these thoughts prior to bookstagram. Luckily, my stint with perfectionism only lasted about six months before I realized you can still take beautiful pictures of both used and library books.

The bookish community – whether on bookstagram or otherwise – has changed my life in more ways than I can count. I read more diverse characters, I read more genres, and I just read more. I have gained empathy and understanding, as well as, lifelong friends. What have you learned from participating in or lurking on bookstagram (or booktube and book twitter)?

Peggy is eight years old when her survivalist father takes her from their home in London to a remote cabin in the woods. When they arrive, he tells her that the rest of the world has been destroyed - everything is gone, including her mother, her friends, and her home. Believing that this is her life now, Peggy begins teaching herself how to live off the land.

Peggy and her father fall into a rhythm - gathering food, repairing the cabin, setting hunting traps - until one day, she sees a pair of boots in the forest. In setting out to find the owner of the boots, Peggy finds the strength to return to the home she thought she'd lost.

This is such an enchanting book - both in plot and in prose. It is beautiful in a quiet sort of way, not like many of the stories I've read with a similar theme. While it does get intense towards the end, it is never overbearing.

There is a lot of time spent with Peggy and her father in the woods or at their cabin, describing their day-to-day life and how they survived. To many, these pages seemed dull (a lull in the action perhaps?), but I found them dreamy and endearing. Those are the pages I found myself lost in, living off the land right alongside Peggy.

This is the type of novel where the author doesn't assume the reader is clueless. Fuller is subtle, dropping clues for the reader to decipher. Some will figure things out right away, others might not realize until the last page - I fell somewhere in the middle.

Our Endless Numbered Days is such a gorgrous book. I hope you'll give it a chance.

'Dates only make us aware of how numbered our days are, how much closer to death we are for each one we cross off. From now on, Punzel, we're going to live by the sun and the seasons.' He picked me up and spun me around, laughing. 'Our days will be endless.'

Rating: 5/5

The Breakdown starts as we watch Cass drive down a deserted road through the middle of the woods. Her husband advised her not to, but it's quicker and there's a storm. Driving along the road, she runs into a car pulled off to the side and wonders if the driver is broken down or needs some help. She pulls over in case the driver wants to get out and run over (she's heard too many stories of women getting out to help and getting sabotaged), but they never do. Uneasy and anxious to be home, she drives away.

The next morning, Cass wakes up to hear the news: the woman in the car on the side of the road is dead. Filled with guilt over whether she could have prevented the murder, she sets out for answers. Only this isn't so easy when she can't even trust her own memory.

With this novel, B.A. Paris took a different approach than what she did for Behind Closed Doors (review here). The tension Paris created in Behind Closed Doors was expertly done - oftentimes leaving me breathless. The storyline in The Breakdown is a little less intense, but that isn't a bad thing. Throughout the novel, there is a continual building of suspense and distrust of each character. As Cass questions her memories, I found myself questioning my own judgement and predictions. She is an unreliable narrator in it's truest form. It's exhausting to witness the way in which she questions her own actions, unable to remember huge chunks of time - but exhausting in a good way, if that's possible.

This is the type of novel you will breeze through in one sitting. The pacing is fast and the chapters are short, propelling you forward at an unstoppable speed. If you're looking for a addictive psychological thriller for the beach, look no further!

Rating: 3/5

The Stranger in the Woods is the non-fiction account of Christopher Knight, an ordinary man who lived in the Maine wilderness without help from or contact with the outside world. This is not a political book. Knight did not retreat to the world out of anger, or to make a statement, he simply did so because he preferred it.

How does one survive in the woods of Maine for almost three decades without help, you might ask? Christopher Knight did it with a combination of wits, determination, and some "harmless" stealing. Over the course of his 27 years in the woods, Knight burglarized the homes and camps in his area over a thousand times in order to gain supplies. He never stole from residents while they were home, and never took more than he needed. Nonetheless, it left an entire community feeling both violated and curious.

The author, Michael Finkel, got to know Knight over the course of a handful of interviews conducted during Finkel's time in jail. He takes us from Knight's early life, making a stop at the day Knight decided to take to the woods, and drops us off with where he is today. Along the way, we learn not only about Knight's motivations and experiences, but also the experiences of other hermits throughout different times and cultures.

Reading this book is an interesting experience. Throughout the interviews, you get the sense that Knight just wanted to be left alone. He doesn't seek acceptance or to be understood. He was simply living his life. Though he gives Finkel permission to write this book, I can't help but feel it's exploitive on some level. Knight never meant for his story to be told. His only wish was to live the remainder of his life in the wilderness, neither his existence nor story known by anyone.

For a non-fiction book, this was a quick read - one that you get sucked into. As the saying goes, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.